Texas A&M University to purchase Texas Wesleyan University Law School. This is great news for Fort Worth. A&M will undoubtedly bring their prestige and their resources to make this, their sole Law School, a premier campus within their institution. I think that we can look forward to some new brick and mortar in the southern sector of Downtown Fort Worth. Perhaps we can see A&M get involved in doing some much needed redevelopment at, dare I hope, the T&P Warehouse.

I hope we see some redevelopment, but I have my doubts. My understanding is that part of the deal is a 40 year lease for $2.5 Million / yr. They will probably upgrade faculty and facilities somewhat. I don't think they'll want Texas Tech's law school to be higher in the rankings for very long. It was mentioned that they could take the current building up a couple of stories if they wanted to. That would be very interesting. Also, a parking garage to the East would be awesome.

Aside from the physical plant perspective, the Texas A&M purchase should enhance the law school’s prestige. I would have preferred TCU. I understand this will be a joint venture, but the new proposed name really has me confused: Texas A&M School of Law at Texas Wesleyan University?? Who would be the alma mater? And is this the wave of the future (e.g., University of Texas College of Engineering at Southern Methodist University)?

At the onset of the news announcing Fort Worth as the flagship location for A&M's Law School , I blogged that this was great news for downtown perhaps caught up in all the excitement.

Now, I feel that for the sake of a downtrodden sector of the city and the city's goal of turning around the area, a main campus location of the A&M/TWU Law School should be encouraged by the city. There are great examples of higher education infrastructure, UNT and UTA, having very positive impact on the surrounding neighborhood. If this could be realized somewhat in a portion of Poly, wouldn't it be fantastic?

I disagree. Even when it was part of TWU they tried to disassociate the two for a reason. It wasn't good for the law school. It's an advantage for the TWU students to be very close to most of the large law firms downtown. The law school has a number of adjunct professors who practice downtown. It makes sense for it to be where it is.

I disagree. Even when it was part of TWU they tried to disassociate the two for a reason. It wasn't good for the law school. It's an advantage for the TWU students to be very close to most of the large law firms downtown. The law school has a number of adjunct professors who practice downtown. It makes sense for it to be where it is.

Yes, there are advantages to being very close to most of the large law firms, but neither UT or SMU law schools are in downtown Austin or downtown Dallas. The trip time along the Poly Freeway to downtown is at the most 5-10 mins in duration.

We are very likely going to see a significant upgrading in quality of teaching. I am guessing that A&M will be hiring many new and nationally recognized professors to staff their flagship law school.

Among the things to admire most about TWU is its deep commitment to the neighborhood. Decades ago strong consideration was given to relocating TWU to the Western Hills neighborhood. After weighing all the benefits pro and con, the college eventually weighed its mission for being the beacon in Poly as more important; and the college decided to stay put. A decision that what enthusiastically received at the time. Without TWU, this area could be easily written off forever.

Either way, downtown or Poly, I am really excited that Fort Worth will soon become the home for a major law school program.

I disagree. Even when it was part of TWU they tried to disassociate the two for a reason. It wasn't good for the law school. It's an advantage for the TWU students to be very close to most of the large law firms downtown. The law school has a number of adjunct professors who practice downtown. It makes sense for it to be where it is.

Yes, there are advantages to being very close to most of the large law firms, but neither UT or SMU law schools are in downtown Austin or downtown Dallas. The trip time along the Poly Freeway to downtown is at the most 5-10 mins in duration.

We are very likely going to see a significant upgrading in quality of teaching. I am guessing that A&M will be hiring many new and nationally recognized professors to staff their flagship law school.

Among the things to admire most about TWU is its deep commitment to the neighborhood. Decades ago strong consideration was given to relocating TWU to the Western Hills neighborhood. After weighing all the benefits pro and con, the college eventually weighed its mission for being the beacon in Poly as more important; and the college decided to stay put. A decision that what enthusiastically received at the time. Without TWU, this area could be easily written off forever.

Either way, downtown or Poly, I am really excited that Fort Worth will soon become the home for a major law school program.

I'm excited about it too, but I think it's important to temper the enthusiasm a little in light of the condition of the general market for lawyers and law schools. In many ways A&M is about 20 years late coming to the party. Like MBA programs colleges have treated law schools like cash cows to help offset the decline in public funding. Now there are simply too many of them around.

Meaning no disrespect here, but as a graduate of the TWU School of Law I cannot say that Texas A&M will bring in professors of greater superiority than are currently teaching there. There are, and have been, several distinguished law school professors at TWU. And TWU law graduates are also distingjuished, among them the current district attorney of Dallas County and the justice of the peace in precinct 1 in Tarrant County. Also, I believe that law school "prestige" isn't what it used to be (except at Harvard and Yale, of course). Law schools, including SMU, are now recruiting for part-time and evening programs.

Meaning no disrespect here, but as a graduate of the TWU School of Law I cannot say that Texas A&M will bring in professors of greater superiority than are currently teaching there....recruiting for part-time and evening programs.

"Kudos to you John!"

I never intended for my comments to suggest that TWU Law was anything but exemplemary. It was a source of civic pride for me to read that TWU law graduates passed their state bar examinations at among the highest rates of any law school in Texas; so I know that TWU Law is excellent. I believe that TWU Law’s meteoric rise in stature was one of the compelling reasons for Texas A&M to bring TWU Law into its system; and another reason being that A&M wanted to be in the Fort Worth/Dallas Area.

Please accept my apology for giving you such an impression.

Last spring, my niece graduated from Saginaw High School in a class of 500+ where she was #17. She like the majority of the top 20 students were headed to A&M; and was a phenomenah that could hardly be overlooked; and I imagined had been repeated statewide, high school after high school.

Without question, A&M has the resources, has the political clout, will have the students; and I predict, will surpass or equal all but one or two current law programs in Texas.

The issue that I raised is whether there is a moral issue for A&M/TWU to put their enormous resources on the TWU campus or to put their resources in downtown? I believe for several reasons that the resources should be injected in Poly.

Sure, there is an ancillary benefit to the communities from the eceonomic impact of state institutions of higher eduction, but their mandate must be to do what is in the best interests of the school first and foremost. College Station benefits tremendously from Texas A&M, and is indeed almost 100% dependent on Texas A&M in most respects. But I would never expect Texas A&M to make a decision about facilities or programs to help the community that would be a detriment to the school. I feel strongly that moving the law school to the Eastside would be a detriment to the law school.

I lived on the Eastside for a long time and I'm very fond of the area. I hope for good things and I think they will come. I think it makes more sense to promote a TCC push in the area. TCC's mandate is a little more civic in nature.

Two remarks you posted have me wondering.

I read the mission statements for Texas A&M, Texas Tech and University of Texas and found that each have a "Compact to Texas" expressing their beliefs that it is their responsibility to be a catalyst socially and economically in the communities of Texas. Their missions as non-profit institutions are not to be beholden to investors or share holders as one is apt to conclude from your remarks, but instead, to invest in the betterment of the places within Texas and the improvement of the lives of Texans for the better good.

Texas A&M has even a greater mandate and sense of responsibility than TCC in civic matters; I think citing TCC as being comparable is a subterfuge or at best naive. A&M maintains actual presence in each of the 254 counties of Texas whether the county is the richest, the poorest or any county in between. A&M views its presence as a sign of its commitment to serve all the people of this state where ever they reside. It was so impressive to learn that one of their five core principles is the principle of "Service".

I wonder why one would think that Poly/Southeast Fort Worth is less deserving of this commitment or why it should not be more deserving than most?

I wonder if you could be more exacting as to how or why a A&M Law School on the TWC main campus deserves to be so strongly derided as being detrimental to A&M and the compact it has made with the people of Texas?

So just Texas A&M School of Law? Did they drop the appendage ..."at Texas Wesleyan University"? Hope so, too confusing. So now Fort Worth is either home to or has branches of TCU, TWU, A&M, UT Arlington, UNT.

So just Texas A&M School of Law? Did they drop the appendage ..."at Texas Wesleyan University"? Hope so, too confusing. So now Fort Worth is either home to or has branches of TCU, TWU, A&M, UT Arlington, UNT.

That's correct. The name was originally going to be a combination of both schools. Apparently some new board members took over for A&M in January and there was enough support to pay some extra money to buy the property where the school sits instead of renting it, along with making it just A&M.

No, not universal. Some of my alumni friends are not happy. Some transition changes have been rather abrupt and without consideration of alumni feelings about their long-time support for the TWU School of Law. You'd think it was a coup d'état, not an amicable purchase.

A&M School of Law classes start Monday (see the S-T article below), so this reality means any Wesleyan law student or alumni still disgruntled should get over it and move on. Say, Youngalum, I was on the Wesleyan SBA back in 2000.

Texas A&M Law School will need new facilities soon. Is the block where they're currently located large enough?

^ Has there been any talk of that? The building they are in does not seem incredibly well suited to a school, rather old and dusty and does not have very good parking accommodations for staff and students. Granted, I've never been inside. WIth big A&M money behind it now, wonder if there is something in the pipeline for the school. And any lot is big enough, provided you can go up.

One seemingly little known fact is that at least one or two of the large empty parking lots directly to their east were owned by TWU and presumably included in the buyout. So that's a possibility.

Another little known fact: The A&M Law School building was originally built by Southwestern Bell to move offices into, if needed. The foundations and structure were designed to handle a total of 16 stories. If the law school wanted to expand, they could always go upward.

TWU refurbished the school prior to its move from Irving. It was very nice and looked like every other law school inside with large auditorium classrooms and small classrooms. It also has 2 large mock courtrooms and a 2 level library. I should know as I was the SBA president who help dedicate the building

The building is still quite ugly and not fitting for the law school of a top 50 university.

Further FYI, around the turn of this century TWU School of Law shared the building with the IRS which occupied the top floor. Before the negotiations with TCU fell through, there was talk of building expansion, I believe.

While probably not universal, every TWU Law school grad I know is thrilled about the change.

Less than a year later, I retract this statement. TWU grads will not be able to get the A&M diploma and a lot of them are really upset. It's not that they necessarily want an A&M diploma, but they now have diplomas from a law school that doesn't exist. How do you apply for a job online and select TWU from the drop down box of law schools when it's not on there?

Wife went to TWU Law and I've been hearing about it for a few months. I went to A&M undergrad, so naturally it's all my fault.

The school has foundations built that allow the building to go up to 16 floors. The petition drive will fail by the Wesleyan alumni. I really don't care about a degree that says a$m on it since I graduated in 1998. I just want the school to acknowledge in its records that all Wesleyan grads are alumni of a$m school of law for purposes of job opportunities outside of Dallas/Fort Worth area..

A$M is pretty consistent already by asking for donations, support and even updates on the corp of cadets in college station--all we ask is that they recognize us as alumni like all other ABA approved schools that have been bought out by other schools in the USA.

The TCC downtown building scandal resulted in a lack of coordination between potential stakeholders that has resulted in several institutions being located in areas not optimally suited to their nature.

The law school should have been enticed to move into the abandoned Bing Thom building on the bluffs, next to all the city and county law courts and offices. Plenty of opportunity for students to access legal records, attend real-life court sessions, and have real-life judges and lawyers available for adjunct positions in specialty areas or as guest lecturers; all a short walk between the various venues. There may have been an opportunity for the city, county, and school to partner together to build a state-of-the art legal records and library facility with shared access.

The ATT/TWU/TAMU etc. building could have been sold to finance the move and have become available as commercial property on the tax rolls, and expandable to 16 floors. Downtown, adjacent to the Jones Street Transit Station (ITC), and proximity to the Convention Center and related hotels could have all been good selling points to attract retail and office tenants.

The TCC nursing program should have been located adjacent to the main JPS location in Southside for reasons similar to the law school argument above. Perhaps there might have been some small scale synergy similar to that enjoyed by Dallas' Parkland Hospital and UT Southwestern.

The TCC downtown building scandal resulted in a lack of coordination between potential stakeholders that has resulted in several institutions being located in areas not optimally suited to their nature.

Ditto to the suggestions that the legal and nursing campuses should have been located in the legal district and the medical district respectively.

However, still I hope that the dominoes will fall in place when the city decentralizes its department to campuses city wide that are suited to their nature, which could free the city, with luck, to relocate the top departments into the P.O.

Should this happen, then A&M Law could take over the space in the current city hall and use the land at the A&M's current facility for development, perhaps a 16-story hotel near the Water Gardens/Convention Center.

But yes, TCCD has shown that it has some problem getting its ducks in a row.

One thing that drives me crazy about the TCC bluffs location: it was not built in that location for any practical purpose. It was built there because of the ego of their chancelor and his hell-bentness on creating a legacy showpiece to honor his "thrifty" budgeting methods.

Correction: No diploma, just a kind of recognition by the A&M law school that TWU law school grads met all their requirements of a JD degree and each is a "former student in good standing" of the A&M law school. But it looks official with the signatures of the law school's interim dean and the university president.

.....The kicker is this--the new CEO from USAIR is discussing moving the HQ or renovating the current American HQ. He prefers moving the HQ and is scouting sites in Downtown Dallas--his preferred choice.

The reason is several--1. Fresh start, 2. Tax incentives, 3. He thinks that Dallas projects the HQ image better than Fort Worth (some in the USAIR management see Fort Worth as too country and not a city easily identifiable as a international HQ city for its management as compared to what Phoenix projects and what Dallas projects compared to Fort Worth )

Don't shoot the messenger.

Heard from a pretty reliable source that Texas A$M plans to move the law school to College Station as soon as a building on campus is ready for them.

"But what about those earthquakes in College Station.".

................ .......

From Dean Andrew Morriss, Texas A&M School of Law, The Bryan-College Station Eagle, 5/6/14

Quote--

"The school plans to offer courses in other parts of the state". Morriss said details will come out soon, but he quashed rumors of plans to move....."I don't think there are any plans to move the law school anywhere," Morriss said. "It's conceivable that we might end up in a different building at some point, but my understanding is that the commitment is to stay in Fort Worth. We hope to offer programs elsewhere in the state at different times but the law schools' home is Fort Worth."

Now what has changed that would have A&M take the city's only law school away or out of the third most populous county in Texas and that A&M has long desired to be the public school with a law school in North Texas or that North Texas has lobbied for a public law school? What has changed?

.....The kicker is this--the new CEO from USAIR is discussing moving the HQ or renovating the current American HQ. He prefers moving the HQ and is scouting sites in Downtown Dallas--his preferred choice.

The reason is several--1. Fresh start, 2. Tax incentives, 3. He thinks that Dallas projects the HQ image better than Fort Worth (some in the USAIR management see Fort Worth as too country and not a city easily identifiable as a international HQ city for its management as compared to what Phoenix projects and what Dallas projects compared to Fort Worth )

Don't shoot the messenger.

Heard from a pretty reliable source that Texas A$M plans to move the law school to College Station as soon as a building on campus is ready for them.

............. ..................

From Dean Andrew Morriss, Texas A&M School of Law, The Bryan-College Station Eagle, 5/6/14

Quote--

"The school plans to offer courses in other parts of the state". Morriss said details will come out soon, but he quashed rumors of plans to move....."I don't think there are any plans to move the law school anywhere," Morriss said. "It's conceivable that we might end up in a different building at some point, but my understanding is that the commitment is to stay in Fort Worth. We hope to offer programs elsewhere in the state at different times but the law schools' home is Fort Worth."

Now what has changed that would take the city's only law school away? Could it be that CS projects a better image than FW? Is FW too country for even CS?

Not playing devil's advocate here, only conjecturing that A&M may be feeling the heat of competition from a new nearby public law school, the UNT Dallas College of Law...whereas TWU School of Law had no such competition in its hey day. Back when, there was a need for an area-wide law school to offer part-time and evening classes that was lacking with SMU's law program. Ergo, the Dallas-Fort Worth School of Law and, subsequently, TWU in Fort Worth. But I guess the DFW area is a big market with plenty of room for higher education competitors in a number of fields, not just law.

Archival searches strongly suggest that Texas A&M had been lobbying the Texas Legislature for years with two goals in mind:

#1. to have its own Law School (compete with U.T.-Austin)

#2. to have its Law School in North Texas.

Now that its goals have been achieved, it seems unlikely that A&M would relinquish the FW-D Region just so it would come into direct competition in the Houston Region with UH. My guess is that A&M believes that it can easily take on the recently opened UNT Law School; and that it can eventually claim the state's largest metro area as its base, especially with backing from Fort Worth.

While reliable sources can be interesting, they can also be faulty hearsay unless a subsequent and plausible investigation into the rumor is undertaken.

BTW, this is not a rumor, but a wish of mine to have Texas Tech have more of a presence in Fort Worth/North Texas.

A$M hasn't had it in their goals to have a law school in North Texas for a long time. That is nonsense. They originally wanted South Texas College of Law and when the legislature quashed that, they turned to Wesleyan after TCU pulled out of the discussions.

And you guys can LOL all you want-the final decisions on the law school are still pending.

As far of the AA thing, things change and that is a fact. At least my rumor was based on actual discussions and not crazy ideas that Carswell will ever be a commercial traffic airport supporting airline traffic.

If and when A&M had acquired South Texas Law, I bet $ to donuts that it would have relocated it somewhere in North Texas. TWU was the hanging fruit that A&M long hoped and been waiting for.

#2. Of course they can, but anyone with a reasonable amount of knowledge about Fort Worth, DFW Airport and AA would understand that they are joined together at the hip. You been the given a "shaky" tip.

A second regional airport is as inevitable as is the inevitable growth west and south of Fort Worth. It may be Meacham or it may be Carswell, but it is at least a plausible prediction if population trends continue.

A second regional airport is as inevitable as is the inevitable growth west and south of Fort Worth. It may be Meacham or it may be Carswell, but it is at least a plausible prediction if population trends continue.

I don't see that a second "regional" airport is inevitable for the area if you count DFW as the first (i.e. major airport for the while North Texas region, long haul, international, etc.) If you mean a second regional airport like DAL (other regional US destinations) I would bet on Collin County to have the second one. Sorry, just saying'...

A couple more anecdotal observations about Texas A&M's law school (coming from a TWU Law School alum)...aside from whether it stays in Fort Worth. The establishment of Texas A&M's law school is contemporary with that of the UNT Dallas College of Law in the North Texas region. Both are public law schools which, I believe, will be competing for part-time and evening students. Also, Texas A&M Law School is the predecessor of a law school that is of recent vintage--relative to SMU, UT-Austin, Baylor, etc. Students looking to become "prestigious" Texas lawyers are apt to choose one of the big players, not Texas A&M. Moreover, of course Texas A&M, as an old land--grant college with traditional agricultural and engineering curricula, is new to the legal community. That newness is a disadvantage in competition with other law schools.

......Students looking to become "prestigious" Texas lawyers are apt to choose one of the big players, not Texas A&M. Moreover, of course Texas A&M, as an old land--grant college with traditional agricultural and engineering curricula, is new to the legal community. That newness is a disadvantage in competition with other law schools.

Texas A&M is a true state brand and it is the oldest land grant college in the state. It was rather impressive to see how many of the tops students, including my own from the graduating class of Saginaw had already committed to A&M.

Wealth and power will not be an issue at A&M nor, will the it be an issue with the very strong alumni in every large city in Texas. The dean of the new law school is on record as to what A&M's goal is: to compete with UT and to recruit from all 254 counties. Also, it will begin to compete for some of the top academicians who will settle permanently or temporarily into our area.

renamerusk--you claimed they wanted a law school in North Texas for a long time. Wanting a law school and then have it principally located in a certain part of Texas are two very different things. I don't dispute they wanted a law school for years, hence the attempt to buy South Texas College of Law.

Where you indicate they were going to move STLS out of downtown Houston and move to North Texas is hogwash. Were you indicated that A$M wanted a law school specifically in North Texas is also hogwash. You are misinformed or projecting.

I am a little close to this subject as I am a graduate of the law school, was the Student Bar President of the school and have people I know and trust that are on staff teaching future law grads, including deans.

Finally, a commercial airport from Carswell will never happen. It would make Southwest FW and Westover Hills residencies basically highly devalued. If you honestly don't think that money and influence would quash the plains then you don't know much about how FW works. BTW, I support another airport on the Western side of DFW, it just will never be from Carswell.

It is the goal of the system to provide top notch education across a broad spectrum of disciplines to the residents of Texas at a reasonable cost. To accomplish all of that it has to operate as a collection of diverse campuses that provide different components of the over plan. In that context, a law school was a noticable gap in a system that has a dental school, a medical school, a veterinary school, graduate programs accross a wide spectrum of sciences and engineering and a strong business school (the law school gap directly impacts the business school). So they added a law school.

They have a planning horizon of many decades. Texas A&M will likely invest in the law school consistently over the next 50 years and at some point you'll look up and no one will realize that it wasn't always there. The "prestige" of the other law schools in the state is imaginary except from SMU and UT. St. Mary's, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, UNT, Baylor (yes, even Baylor), UH, etc. might as well not even exist as far as the rest of the country is concerned. So it is entirely possible that the Texas A&M School of Law will overtake several of these programs over the next 50 years. None of that is a shot at those other schools. Most of them are fine schools and Baylor produces some of the best legal theoreticians in the business, but outside of Texas no one cares about any of them.

As far as competing goes, it's irrelevant. The current administrations probably feel like they're competing, but at the end of the day it's all about each of them benchmarking for improvement and "competing" isn't a bad way to approach it.